By Nan Sterman The story behind Homegrown Hops, Local Flavor for Local Brews starts a few years ago.  My daughter called me just before my husband’s birthday. “Mom,” she said, “Groupon has an offer for a beer brewing kit – we should get that as a gift for Dad.” Of course we shou

— Nan Sterman Seeds fascinate me. They look like little pieces of dead wood. But bury them in soil or potting soil, add water, set them where the temperature is just right, and they sprout. Care for them and they grow into plants, many of which we eat. Have you ever seen a tomat

–Nan Sterman From Anza Borrego Desert to the beaches at La Jolla, this is San Diego County’s garden tour season. This time of year, gardeners open their gates and invite the public in to enjoy the fruits (sometimes literally) of their labors. If you love seeing what’s behi

March in the Garden Get Ready for Spring — Nan Sterman March is such a busy month for gardeners. There’s so much to see, so much to learn, and so much to do. Where to begin? Here’s my list for getting your garden ready for the months ahead. Edibles Start your home ve

Gardens and art were part of this past week’s adventure as I worked on recharging, reinvesting, and reinventing myself at the annual conference of the GWA, the Association of Garden Communicators (www.gardenwriters.org). This year, more than 300 of us gathered in Atlanta, Georgi

— Nan Sterman With tomatoes ripening now, it’s a great time to taste test the many different types, learn their best uses, and  decide which to grow next summer. Here’s a tutorial. Tomato types Slicing (Beefsteak) tomatoes produce very large, often crenulated fruits,

  — Nan Sterman (Continued from last week’s blog) How to attract pollinators to your garden Water, habitat and food are the basics for attracting pollinators into your garden. Water Offer pollinators a constant drip or a shallow dish of water or water in a birdbath. A

— Nan Sterman After our group of enthusiastic garden travelers left Cordoba, Spain we went on to Seville. We toured Seville’s historic old city on foot, then headed to the Alcazar, one of my favorite gardens in the world. These gardens also hugely influenced San Diego arch

— Nan Sterman   Thirty-six people, nine days, five cities, more than 35 gardens, and nearly 3,000 photos. Those are the numbers for the tour I co-led last month to visit the romantic gardens of Spain. We toured by private coach, starting in Malaga, a beautiful seaside town

— Nan Sterman It’s emerald green. It’s soft underfoot. It smells great when it’s cut. It’s fun to play on. There are many reasons to like grass, but there are also reasons not to have a lawn in your garden. How grass lawns got here Lawns are new to California. They arrived durin